At long last I summoned the courage to get my acrylic paints out again, to see what i could do with them. It was silly to let some tubes of paint intimidate me, and time for me to put an end to this predicament. Here is Mr, Darcy again, but in acrylics this time. Again, I dedicate this to all of Colin Firth's fans, of which humbly I am one.

Thank you, my friend. I am astonished to have received so many fine comments on this portrait. They are giving my insecurities about painting with acrylics, a big boost of confidence, though. I apologize for my tardy reply to this portrait. I have been ill for several days.

Thank you, Henri, but you give me too much credit. I wish I could stand beside you, and watch while you are painting with acrylics. If I could do that, I am sure I would learn a lot, Your work with acrylics is so good!

Thank you. I would call this, a BRAVE ATTEMPT, but it is far from being perfect. Had I been doing this with my oil paints, there are a number of changes I would have made to improve it. But I wasn't working with oils, and I haven't solved such problems with acrylics.

outstanding work my dear Joyce!I'm under the charm of this one!you're right to don't let intimidate by some tubes of acrylics 'cause you're very talented for painting!!If you stay on this way I'll become your first fan for ever!!I wish you again a great day for your birthday with all your familiars!

Thanks, Paco. T loved your digital portrait of Colin Firth that you sent to me as an early birthday present. You couldn't have picked a better one, to please me. I think Colin deserved the Oscar for Best Actor in The King's Speech.

you're welcome Joyce!!I don't see the movie (I'm waiting for the first coming on TV) but I saw some videos of it and it seems a great film.Looking for pictures of Colin I was surprised to see he played Wermeer in "the young girl with the pearl" and I love this movie!!But i did not rmember that was Colin as the painter.I did one year ago the portrait of Scarlett in the young girl with the pearl with my coloured pencils!A great moment and emotion for me this one!!You can see in my gallery.

I saw the movie, The Girl with a Pearl Earring, but I don't remember Colin playing Vermeer. I guess makeup changed his looks too much, I did not recognize him. I will have to watch it again. I have the book and I liked it even more than the movie. I have already seen Colin in The King's Speech. I tried to buy a DVD of The King's Speech at Walmart tonight, but I guess they sold all of them after it took four Oscars for: Best Picture; Best Actor; Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. Instead, I bought Bridget Jone's Diary (a $5 DVD special). I thought the movie was a piece of crap, except for the scenes with Colin. If Renee Zellweger had chosen Hugh Grant over Colin Firth to be her beau, I would have tossed the DVD into a trash can. To me, there is NO COMPARISON between the two men. Colin wins hands down. He is a HOTTIE!

I'm back from Spain earlier than we expected with Marianne due to my daughter' crash in a roller coaster last week!A brake problem on her chariot at the end to stop it and she was hurt at her feet and ankles.We go together to the hospital to have a scanner on the legs to check that.

I am sorry to learn this, Paco. I hope your daughter will be well enough soon, that the hospital can release her. I sent Shahin an e-mail yesterday to wish him a Happy Birthday. That is when I learned that your wife and you had to cut your vacation short because your daughter had been in an accident. Shahin did not say what had happened to her, though.

the radiologist found a little bone broken on the left foot of Nathalia.The right foot is ok!Today she has a rendezvous with the doctor to know what he decides about this foot!He set the foot in plaster or not??

Thank you, Joane, but you give me too much credit. This was my third attempt to do a portrait of someone with acrylics. My first attempt, was Urs Bühler. My second, was Montgomery Clift. Neither of them are very good, however. Since I am approaching four score years, meaning I am on the downward slope now, I am exploring as many medias as I can, while I can. I do not think I will spend a lot of time on watercolors or pastels from now on. I'm not planning to use my oil paints any time soon for portraits, and I may have retired my colored pencils. I have to spend too much time sharpening them, and will not use my electric pencil sharpener for that, as I ruined the first one when I sharpened 210 colored pencils in it. I do hope to gain knowledge and skill with acrylics however. I plan to continue doing graphite portraits.

believe me, you are very talented, you can use pencils, acrylics, pastels as well ! that's really good and i think that you really caught the look of Darcy in this one ! perfect for me, and I know this actor well !!

You are probably better acquainted with Colin's work, than I am. Strange as it seems, I am finding out that I have seen him in more movies than I thought I had. I recently learned Colin played Vermeer, the Dutch painter, in The Girl with a Pearl Earring. He also had a part in Momma Mia. I have seen both of those movies, but did not remember him in them. I thought I had only seen him in two movies; Pride and Prejudice and The King's Speech. Last night I bought a $5 DVD in Walmart because Colin was in it. The movie is Bridget Jones's Diary. I thought the movie (story and language) was a piece of crap, except for the scenes Colin was in. I am glad I did not spend any more money on it. If Renee Zellweger had chosen Hugh Grant over Colin at the end, I would have thrown the movie in a trash can. For me, there is no comparison. Colin wins, hands down!!

I do agree Colin wins no comparison ! this film was indeed not a good one but for me it was funny (I read the book, it was hilarious). You could see Valmont from Milos Forman with Colin or his precedent movie "a single man": he is just fantastic in it !

One of our daughters read the book, Bridget Jones Diary, and she also said it was funny. Frequently I have found this to be true, where a book is better than the movie. Books will sometimes tell you a charactor's thoughts, and they are not something that actors and actresses can portray (act out) upon a movie screen.

wow ! looks like you've won this battle against your tubes of paint ! it's a wonderful work dear ! is it already your birhday ? I remember you told me it was in july but I don't know why, I thought it was by the end of the month and I haven't seen it in the list today ; I hope I haven't missed it yesterday (I usualy don't look at this birthday list)

Thank you, my friend. The interesting thing was this, I actually enjoyed painting with acrylics, once I got going. True, I haven't worked out all of the details on how to best handle them yet, but I am sure I will work out something satisfactory in time. I loved the idea that they are not smelly, like my oil paints, and the clean up is so easy. I just cannot blend the colors as well as I would like to, yet. You are right, my birthday is the last day of this month.

I've never tried acrylics, it said to be very quick to dry, lhommeloiret uses it ; I may give it a try someday but I think I'd rather go back to oil because it's so easy, you can stop your work, and take it back when you want and even correct things with the white spirit you should go on with this technique, you really managed to create a wonderful work ! when are you leaving to joinyour family for yourbirthday gathering ?

Yes acrylics do dry fast. I read that they are dry in 15 minutes or less, depending upon their thickness. I keep a spray bottle close by, and mist (spray) my palette to keep the paints from drying up there while I am using them. One of my problems has been not mixing up enough different shades of a color, so I could blend them while painting them on the canvas paper. I know that a retardant is made that can be be added to the paint. It slows down the drying time of acrylics, but I haven't looked into that yet.

GR-R-R-R--R-R-R-OWL! Yup, I'm a Leo. Glad you are too! RA'S a Leo, also, but CF is a Virgo. Doesn't matter. How about those brown eyes of his? They are so expressive, one look from them could practically melt an ice cube.

Thank you, Patrick. Sometimes less, is better. I think this was one of those times. Had I been working with oil paints, instead of acrylics, there are a few things I would have done differently....to improve the portrait. But acrylics are still too new for me to conquer those hurdles just yet.

il y a d'innombrables possibilités en peinture, surtout avec tous les produits qu'on peut ajouter. Je crois qu'il faut tenter toutes sortes de combinaisons avant de trouver celle qui nous convient le mieux !! there are countless possibilities in painting, especially with all the products that can be added. I think we should try all sorts of combinations before finding one that suits us best!

I bought a jar of Liquitex Slow-Dri Blending Gel for acrylics. It is a retarder, giving me a little longer to work with the paints before they dry. Next, I plan to buy a varnish made especially for acrylics. I will choose one that leaves a slight gloss on the colors. I like that look with oil paints.

I had not thought of using acrylics to map out the lights and darks, then finish the details in oils. Thanks for suggesting that to me. I have used a light grey acrylic wash in the past, to cover a stark white canvas, before painting a scene in oils upon it.

Thank you for your encouraging words. I will give acrylics another try, but not for several days at least. Presently, I am not feeling too good. I am taking medicine for a case of shingles that struck me two days ago. I saw a doctor yesterday. He prescribed medicine to kill the virus (5 pills a day), plus two other medicines, both for pain. One of those things some folks get when they get older, if they have once had Chicken Pox. Thank you also, for the early birthday congratulations. My birthday is actually the last day of this month,

Thanks, Christine. This portrait is closer to what I imagine Colin would have looked like had I done this with oil paints. It was a lot simpler and quicker with acrylics., though. You may be right about acrylics being my best medium. I may have a future with them after all, but first I will have to work out how to blend colors together for shading without lines of demarcation showing. I could possibly do this by lightly misting the area on the canvas paper that I want to shade, before adding the colors, then I could smooth the colors so they fade gradually into each other. I will have to play with acrylics more, to find out what I can and what I cannot do with them.

It is encouraging to receive such a grand compliment from an artist of your stature, Christine. What's more, you didn't just say it once. You said it twice. That is a real boost of confidence to my insecurities with acrylics, I am touched. Thank you!

WOW; I would not get such a result even if I had practised for long years. Acrylics is sooo hard to use. Amazing job you did here again! Sorry for missing it, I must add you to my list so that I won't miss anything again.